Exodus 30:22 - Meaning and Application

Directions are given here for making the holy anointing oil and the incense used in the service of the tabernacle. God was to be honored with these, so he also gave the order for making them. Nothing is fit to come to God unless it comes from him.

The holy anointing oil was to be made from ingredients and amounts that God himself prescribed (Exodus 30:23-25). Commentators do not agree on every detail, but one thing is clear: the mixture was made from the best ingredients for its purpose. It had to be made skillfully, “like an apothecary” or perfumer would make it (Exodus 30:25). The spices, which came to nearly half a hundredweight, were soaked in about five or six quarts of oil, then strained out, leaving the oil with a rich, sweet smell.

This oil was used to anoint God’s tent and all its furnishings. It was also used when the priests were set apart for service (Exodus 30:26-30). The rule was to continue this practice through all their generations (Exodus 30:31). Jewish tradition says that the very oil Moses made lasted until near the captivity, but this is unlikely. Bishop Patrick thinks the oil was made again whenever needed according to God’s command, since Solomon was anointed with it (1 Kings 1:39), as were some other kings. All the high priests were also anointed with enough that it ran down to the hem of their garments, and 1 Chronicles 9:30 speaks of the making of this ointment.

Yet everyone agrees that there was no holy anointing oil in the second temple. Patrick thinks this was because the Jews came to believe it was not lawful to make it again. In God’s providence, that lack pointed ahead to the better anointing of the Holy Spirit in gospel times, whose many gifts were pictured by these sweet ingredients. To show the beauty of holiness, the tabernacle had things that were pleasing to both the eye and the nose. Christ’s name is said to be like perfume poured out (Song of Solomon 1:3), and the good name of Christians is better than precious ointment (Ecclesiastes 7:1).

The incense burned on the golden altar was also made from sweet spices, though it was not as rare or rich as the spices in the anointing oil (Exodus 30:34-35). The Jews say it was prepared once a year, with one pound for each day of the year and three extra pounds for the Day of Atonement. When it was used, it had to be beaten very small. In this, the Lord’s pleasure in bruising the Redeemer is pictured, when Christ offered himself as a sacrifice with a sweet-smelling aroma.

A common law was given about both the oil and the incense (Exodus 30:32-33, 37-38): no one was to copy them for ordinary use. God wanted his people to keep a deep respect for his own appointments, and he teaches us not to misuse anything by which he makes himself known. Some people made instruments of music for their own feasts, copying David’s kind of music (Amos 6:5). It is a serious insult to God to treat holy things as a joke, especially to mock his Word and ordinances, or to handle them carelessly (Matthew 22:5). What belongs to God alone must not be treated like a common thing.